Henri Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management Every Manager Must Look For

Principles of Management

The practice of management is based on specific disciplines which are known as principles of management. Management principles are the facts and truth gained through deep observation and experimentation. Multiple scholars have added many principles at various times in their research and investigation one of them a scholar is Henri Fayol.

Henri Fayol, a French industrialist, proposed 14 principles of management from his experience and the administrative theory of management. Since he is known as the Father of modern management. That is why these principles are also called principles of modern management.

In fact, these principles are the foundation of organizational success, all these principles have one thing in common – they are directed to achieve desired goals and objectives. When they applied as what their basic concept is, every manager is in a position to achieve his organizational goals and objectives.

Henri Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management

And, it is found that most successful managers have depth knowledge of these 14 principles of management. Let’s individually describe the Henri Fayol principles of management,

Division of Work

According to the division of work, every employee in the organization must be assigned only a specific type of work to increase efficiency. Because a single person can not do many tasks at once.

Division of work emphasizes specialization, where every employee has a specialized task to do and less working pressure will be which eventually increases the productivity, speed in tasks, accuracy, and profitability of the organization.

Authority and Responsibility

Authority and responsibility are two interrelated terms in management. If there is authority there must come responsibility as well as only responsibility is unfair without authority.

While authority is power and right inherent in a managerial position through which a manager commands his subordinates, where responsibility is the obligation fulfilled by the subordinates.

Authority without responsibility can make a person irresponsible thus there may be a misuse of power. Similarly, responsibility without proper authority makes a person ineffective.

Thus, this principle emphasizes on there must be a proper balance between authority and responsibility.

Discipline

Discipline means respecting the rules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines of an organization. Discipline must require to accomplish any specified tasks or projects.

Also Read: What is a Manager? Definition, Types, Roles, Functions, and Qualities

Discipline is a core value of all success.

Discipline is developed through the creation of a feeling of self-responsibility among all the members of the organization. It is challenging for a manager to make a good manner in the organization, thus the manager has to create a disciplined environment in the organization through clear and fair agreement, good supervision, and careful application of penalties.

Unity of Command

According to this principle of management, an employee must get orders and instructions from only one manager (boss) at a time. This principle helps to reduce the employee’s responsibilities and confusion.

For example, if an employee gets orders from many superiors at a time, he will get confused about what to do first and later. In this situation, a single employee can not fulfill his responsibilities efficiently and commit mistakes. It leads to delays in work.

Unity of Direction

Unity of direction means a group of people having the same objectives but the directing head is one. In other words, one group of people who follow the direction of only one manager or are in charge.

The related activities should be put under one group and there should be one plan of action and they all should be under the control of one particular manager. And it is essential to maintain unity in operation.

Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest

This principle focuses more on the group of interest rather than the single person’s (employee) interest. A single person can not fulfill the goals of the organization or he falls down the organization.

Thus, the individual interest does not take over the goal of the organization, it must be reconciled between the organizational goals and the individual goals otherwise the organization will in a danger zone.

Remuneration of Personnel

Remuneration is the reward paid to the employees for their contribution. Employees should be paid fair remuneration according to their contributions.

Most employees attract to the organization and give the best performance which has a good practice in the remuneration system and has extremely satisfied employees.

For a good remuneration policy in the organization, there should be a fixed basic wage besides it, there should be a good provision of monetary and non-monetary incentives (financial and non-financial incentives).

Centralization and Decentralization

Centralization refers to the decision-making authority only from top-level management. In a centralized organization, few hands have the decision-making authority. Where decentralization refers to the decision-making from all over the organization, that means the view of bottom-level employers, employees are also gets involved in decision-making.

Maintaining centralization or decentralization in the organizations depends upon the nature and size of the organizations and also the knowledge and capabilities of subordinates.

There is almost no fully centralized or decentralized organization, so Henri Fayol suggests there must be a balance between centralization and decentralization of any organization.

Scalar Chain

This principle of management refers to the unbroken line of authority from top to bottom in a hierarchy. The scalar chain is important for systematic and orderly communication in an organization. All information is communicated through successive chains either from top to bottom or from bottom to top.

It is a must-follow rule in the organization. According to Fayol, the scalar chain should be strictly followed except in an emergency so he introduced Gang Plank.

Order

This principle of management is concerned with the systematic arrangement of material and social order. In his principles of management, Fayol classified orders into two types first are material order and the second is social order.

Material order is concerned with the proper placement of materials, machines, and other physical things. Where social order is concerned with the placement of the right person in the right job.

Thus in short order means, there should be a place for everything and everything should be in its proper place.

Equity

Equity refers to the kindness and justice of all the employees in the organization. According to this principle, all employees should be treated equally and respectfully and the manager must have to avoid favoritism and partiality among the employees.

Stability of Tenure

According to this principle, employees must have the feeling of job security in the organization. Because instability in the job of employees leads to inefficient work.

Stability job helps employees to develop experience and efficiency. The feeling of job insecurity among employees leads to high labor turnover, delays in work, less productivity, and increased cost of training, selection, and supervision.

Initiative

Employees must feel free to make their own plan and execute it. Employees want to fulfill their responsibility for their own risk and knowledge. The manager should encourage the initiative of the employees.

Freedom provides a sense of self-motivation among the employees and makes them more loyal and dedicated to the organization, eventually leading to the productivity of the organization which helps to sustain in the long run.

Esprit De Corps

The last of our fourteen principles of management is esprit de corps. Esprit de corps means “Union is Strength” or “Team Spirit”. There must be team spirit and coordination among the employees in the organization.

Unity is a strength and the strength of an enterprise depends upon harmony and mutual understanding among employees. Thus, a manager has to take the necessary steps to promote team spirit and develop a feeling of harmony in each other.

Hence, these are the universally accepted 14 principles of management provided by Henri Fayol. And he also clarified that these principles are not hard and fast laws that must be followed rather and he said these are guidelines that should be assumed for the optimum realization of organizational goals and objectives and can also be modified in different situations in different ways.